i've always had good luck with netgear routers, although my friend had the exact same (exactly the same because i let him borrow it for a year) router, and would get his signal dropped and had to reset it several times a week. he's an idiot when it comes to computers

so airport is still looking like a good possibility.. the problem is, i would like to have access in my shop (700m from house) and didnt want to run a hard line.... but if the extreme is reliable (doesnt slow down, crash, or drop out like my dlink) then thats what ill get...

one question about the 802.11n

only my laptop uses N does that mean that it will slow down the whole connection to G for everyone else?

Antennas can't increase your output, they can only focus it into more concentrated areas. So if you need omnidirectional signal, antennas won't help you. Setup airport express' as WDS clients.

Click to expand...

yeah, but at the same time, WDS is a big tradeoff in bandwidth unless you buy a router that has two radio units, and can operate full duplex... and afaik you're not gonna find anything like that in the consumer sector

I've got a Linksys WRT54G, and then we got the range expander made by linksys to get to the places it wouldn't reach. Woot had the range expander for like $35, but they're usually closer to $70ish.
The printer and HD support isn't built in, but you can enable file sharing and printing through the actual macs, and if you want they sell other bases that let you print and use external HDs.